Fastening means for sheet material



July 22, 1952 I A. B. HAMMITT ETAL FASTENIIjG MEANS FOR SHEET MATERIAL I Filed Oct. 1. 1949 INVENTORS: PLAMMITT ANDREW B. 1 LZ IBBERT L. BIB UILJEL.

ATTORNEY Patented July 22', 1952 FASTENING MEANS FOR SHEET MATERIAL Andrew B. Hammitt and Herbert L. Birum, J r.,

Trenton, N. J

Application October 1, 1949, SerialNo. 119,032

our oo-pending application Serial No. 667,682

filed May 6, 1946, now abandoned. I

In said application we have shown and described various types of fastening means for securingsheet material to the framework of a building; The fastening means in each instance are. designed to be applied from the exterior of the :building whereby. it is possible to eliminate scaffolding and workmen on the interior of the building and to reduce the cost of applying the sheet material considerably. The fastening means are in the form of bolts which are threaded-on their outer end and are formed onL-their inner end with a laterally extending portionhaving an extremity: shaped to bear against anoutwardly facing surface of the framework.. .In this way the laterally extending portion'is retainedin engagement with the frameworkand is prevented from straightening out and stripping off the framework when the bolt is tightened up by the application of a nut to the threaded end of the fastening means;

That form of fastening means herein described is specifically designed for application to structural iron framework such as channel iron or I-beam members which have an inner laterally extending flange forengagement by the fastening means. A particular feature of the present invention resides V in the provision of means for. guiding the inner extremity of fasten'ing means into retainingengagement with a flange of the'framework to'which it is applied. Moreover, the construction issuch that the op eration of tightening the fastening means causes the. latter to change in shape so as to prevent subsequent removal of the fastening means from the framework. x

: .One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel type of fastening means for securing sheet material to structural iron framework having an inner laterally extending flange. 'Another object of the invention is to provide fastening means which is directed into retaining engagement with the frameworkby-a portion of the fastening means itself. j A further object of the invention is to provide fastemng'means for sheet material which become permanently attached to a framework by. the operation of securing the fastening means in ac Y Another object of the invention is to provide anovel building assembly wherein sheet material is. secured to a structural iron framework in a novel manner. v Y

2Claims. (01. 189-35) 1 These and other objects and features of the present invention will appear from the followingclescription thereof in which reference is made to-t'he figures of the accompanying drawing.

v In'the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a building assembly embodying the present invention'with fastening means in'unsecured positions;

Fig. 2"is a view similar to Fig. 1 wherein the fastening means are permanently secured in place." l

' In that form of the invention illustrated in the drawing the sheet material is applied in overlapping courses to the structural framework of the roof of a building. The sheet materialillustrated is in the form of corrugated cemeritasbestos sheets with a lower sheet '2 bearing against the outer flange 4 of a channel iron framework element or purlin 6. The upper edge 8 of the sheet 2 projects upward beyond the purlin and the lower edge l5) of an overlapping sheet I2 is positioned below the purlin 6. The sheets are-arranged in nested relation and may overlap anyd'esired distance to insure the formation of a weather-tight assembly.

The purlin'6- is formed with an inner laterallyv extending .-flange I4 spaced from the flange 4 against'which the lower sheet 2 bears and a web 16 extends :from-the'inner flange to the outer flange. J The overlapping portions of the. sheets 2"-and1-l2'.are formed'with drilled openings l8 located adjacent the web 16 or the upper side-of thepurlintfort receiving the. fastening means 20. Thexfasteningmeansillustrated is in theform of a'generallygl-shaped bolt having a shank 22' threaded on its outer end as indicated at 24. The inner end of the fastening means is provided with a-laterally extending bearing portion 26 terminating-in a reverselyturned extremity 28 shaped to'embrace and overlie. the'free edge 30 of the inner flange [4 .of the purlin. The laterally-extending portion 26 is preferablyflat or straight and made. substantiallyequal in length to the width of the inner flange of the structural frameworkelement to which the fastening means is to .be applied. The inner end of this bearing portion is connected to the shank 22 of the fastening means by an inclined, curved or sloping portion 32 so that the reversely turned extremity 28-is spaced from the shank 22 a distance exceedingthe width of the flange of the structural element to be engaged by the bearing portion 26 of the fastening means.

Inusing the fastening means described .;for

typical securing sheet material to a purlin or other structural framework element the sheets 2 and l2 are arranged with their edges overlapping adjacent a purlin and a hole I8 is drilled through V beneath the inner flange M of the purlin and the extremity 28 of the bearing portion projects beyond the free edge 30 of the flange. The workman holding the threaded end 24 of vthe fastening means then pulls the fastening means outward whereupon the inclined portion 32 of thefastening means engages the corner or edge 34 of the purlin. The extremity 28 of the fastening meansthen'is' caused to move in the direction of, the arrow portion 4-8 so that after the fastening means has been tightened the projecting end 24 of the shank may be clipped off and the cover portion 38 can be turned over the nut 42 and outer end of the shank so as to protect these parts from the weather.

It will be apparent that various other suitable or preferred forms of sealing means may be employ'edand the fastening means iof'the present invention can be used in securing sheet material to structural framework elements of other forms such as I-beams or angle iron which present an inner laterally extending flange. Furthermore, the sheet material need not be corrugated and-it will be apparent that the fastening means may be applied for securing sheet material to vertical side walls or elsewhere in a building assembly. In View thereof it should be 7 understood that the particular embodiment of as so that it is guided upward over the free edge 31 of the flange l4 so as to embrace and overlie said edge. The fastening means thus is drawninto the position shown in dotted lines inFig. 1,7,

A suitablesealing member is then slipped over.

the threaded end 24 of the shank to seal the opening 18. In the constructionillustrated the sealingamember is of the type shown and dethe invention shown in the drawing and herein described is intendedto be; illustrative only and is not intended to limit the scopevof the invention.

We claim: ,c a I l. Fastening means designedfor use in securing sheet material toa structural framework element which has an innerlaterally extending fiangegpresentinga free edge; said fastening means comprising a substantially J-shapedbolt having an elongatedshank provided with threads scribed in our co-pending application Serial No.

6'76,562;filed June 13, 1946, and has a'body 38 I which extends into the opening I8 and engages the sides'of the openingand the threads on the outer end-oftheshank. Ahard washer 40 is placed overf the sealing memberand a nut 42. is 7 then applie-d'to'the shank and tightened so as to force the sealing member into sealing engagement withzthesides of the opening it and into sealing engagement with the threads on the outer end 24-ofthe shank. Y V 1 As thejnut 42 is tightened the shank ,22 and portion-32 of the fastening means are drawn outward and ten d to straighten out. The shank then bends at 44 about the inner corner 34 of the purlin 6'. The fastening means is thus changed in shape from that shownin dottedv lines in Fig. l to the full line position of Fig, 2. Theextremity- 28 and the.laterally"extendingportion25 of the; fastening means rarezthen drawn intofirm retaining engagement Wlthithf inner flange l.4:of the-structural framework element:-and. cannot. thereafter slip offathe edgeofitheflangefbecause the bend in the fasteningmeans at 44'lprecludes lateral movement of the bearing portion. of 1 the fasteningimeans' with'respect to therfl'ange l4; Moreoven the slightremaining bend in the shank zaandiportionyfi as jindicated'at. 46in Fig; 2 thereafter; act as .a tensioning means for :per-' mittinglimited irelativeimovem'ent' of :the framework elementand sheet materialso asto prevent cracking of. the. sheet'material. on expansion. and contraction ofthe sheet materialandframework element. At the sameltime thesealingmeans is continuously and: firmly held in sealing engagement with the sidesof the opening 18 in the sheet material and the threads of the shank. The

j fastening means is thus automatically formed during the'tightening operation so that even if the nut 52 should become loosened-the fastening means will remain permanently attachedrto-the structural framework element.

As shown in Fig. 2 the-sealing member employed preferably is provided with an outer cover said shank with thelextremity thereof lying in the same plane-as theibe'aring portion and shank and spaced therefrom so that whenthe fastening means is passed through an opening in the sheet material and-positioned'with the bearing;portion below the flange of'a framework element the bolt may. thereafter bepulled outward; and said.

inclined portion will cause said reversely turned extremity to beguided into position-to embrace and'overlie the free. ed e-ofthe flange. q V2. The method of securingsheet materialtoa structural framework element which presents an" inner laterally extending flange having av free edge, whichmethod'lcomprises the steps of form-, ingan-opening in, the "sheet material adjacent said framework element; passingithrough. said openingithe reversely turned: end of, thebearing p.orticn., of; a= substantially deshaped bolt which has an; elongatedsshankconnected to the bearing portion by a portion presenting an inclined .sur-

face, holding the end of theelongated'shank'so thatiit projects through the opening in the sheet material, manipulating said bolt .to' position the bearing, portion beneath said flange with Jthe reversely turnedend proiecting beyond the free edge of the flange, .then drawing the shank .of

the bolt'outward' through said: opening while pressing said inclined surface against'said framework element whereby the reversely turned end of the bearingportion is moved into position to embrace and overlie the free'edge of said flange; applying"sealingr lmeans to the-portion of the shankprojectingf. through the opening-in the sheetmaterial, applyingaV-nut to thread's on the projecting end of saidshankand'tightening-said nut sufliciently to cause it to press said sealing means against the sheet material and'tol cause said shank-to straighten at the point where said inclined portion joins said bearing portion so that the fastening means is permanently held'in engagement with the framework element'by the reversely turned end and the straightened HERBERT L. BIRUM, JR. 5 2,021,929

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 10

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Lyon Nov. 9, 1920 Pfeifer, Jr. Sept. 17, 1935 Voight Nov. 26, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Sept. 12, 1918 OTHER REFERENCES Engineering News Record, April 29, 1948, p. 135. 

